9 tricks to make sure your presentation goes off without a hitch
PowerPoint presentation
- Bring a PPT (PowerPoint) version. Be on the safe side & bring a copy in the industry format. Most teams will accomodate your funky software if they can, but have this in your back pocket just in case.
- Bring a copy of any videos. Video processing and codecs have come along way since the days of DVDs and VHS. Having said that, they can be quite fickle. Have it handy so it can be converted to a different format if need be.
- Have an alternative version of your presentation accessible. Keep a copy in the cloud, USB stick & on your laptop. The off chance that your USB stick gets lost, or your laptop dies could make for a painful experience.
- Don’t assume there will be an internet connection available. Make sure you have a download of any hyperlinks with you. For instance, you might want to open a webpage during your presentation. Have a backup plan ready.
- Download your linked videos & images. Like my previous point, I wouldn’t trust that an internet connection is available to load your files. Embed it into your presentation, it’s pretty simple these days.
- Play it all the way through in presenter mode. Just because it looked great while you build it, doesn’t mean it’ll be great to present with. It’s also a fantastic way to rehearse your presentation too.
- Bring a low quality version of your video (720p). You might have a great 4K video, but that can require a lot of processing power to play and may bog down the presentation computer. It’s pretty unlikely your video will be shown in 4K anyway.
- Tell the AV guys about anything hairy. If you’ve got anything other than simple slides let the team know. They don’t like to be surprised. It can be embarrassing for everyone.
- Reduce your image sizes. Don’t just throw that photo straight in from your DSLR. It’ll look great, but it adds unnecessary processing to the computer. Make use of the inbuilt tools that can help reduce the size and improve your presentation’s performance.
- PS: Don’t forget your dongle!
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